10 Tips to Recover After a Race

After just finishing a marathon all I could think about was when I could run again.

We are so used to running and training for a race that the thought of taking time off is scary. Recovery should be our number one priority though and how you recover is almost as important as the training itself.

Your legs need rest. Remember, you just ran a race and trained hard for countless weeks. Sometimes I feel a little over trained at the end of my cycle and mentally need that break to let my mind reset.

Get a massage! This will help with flushing out the lactic acid, loosen your body up, and muscle recovery as well.

Wear recovery shoes! My friends at Oofos just sent me the new Oomgs and they are amazing! I never realized what a difference wearing recovery shoes could make. I am a big proponent of wearing my running shoes whenever I can for support (lose the $1 flip flops asap) but hate putting extra miles on my shoes. These recovery shoes, and their sandals, have made a difference in my down time from exercising.

Take an Epsom salt bath! Fill that tub up with some hot water, 3 cups Epsom salt, 1 cup baking soda, and just RELAX.

Cross train! I usually bike a little, go for some walks, shoot hoops, swim, or anything I can to give my body the cardio it wants without doing the running thing.

Foam Roll or use the stick! I hold tight to my stick and take it everywhere during training and it is no different in recovery mode. This helps for breaking up the tissue fascia to speed up the recovery process.

Yoga!! Stretching and yoga are a priority after a race. Yoga is a low impact form of strength and it improves your circulation.

Sleep, sleep, and more sleep. Your body has been non stop for weeks, take a step back and just rest. Let your body rebuild and focus on getting good quality sleep.

& 10. Electrolytes and BCAAs! WATER is so important and should be an absolute must in recovery but these help majorly as well. These are a staple in my training and again even more so in my recovery. Nuun and HelixBCAAs are two major staples in my recovery.

Let me know if you have any questions about my recovery tips in the comments below! Do you have any tips that work for you that I didn’t mention? I’d love to hear them!!

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Published by audrey

Welcome! I'm Audrey and I want to share my love and passion for running with the world! I hope that you leave my page inspired to take that next step, chase your dreams, and a little more prepped for that next run!
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7 thoughts on “10 Tips to Recover After a Race”

Thanks for these tips! I’m running my first half marathon in July and I will definitely be keeping these in mind. Any tips for a hydration plan during a race? You mentioned electrolytes… should I be going for the water or the Gatorade? I’m running in mid-July… in Texas… it’s gonna be HOT! Thanks!

Thank you for reading!! I will do a hydration post soon! I am a big proponent of doing every other, so water and then Gatorade at every other stop! Major props because that will be a super hot race! Can’t wait to follow along with how you do!!

I used to be an ice bath guy but converted to epsom salt. And while I’ve never used these after one event, last fall when I did 200 miles over 7 days I rented recovery boots from Elevated Legs (similar to normatec). That was he best decision I made and truly helped recovery each day. I wish I owned them.